Official 'The Hobbit' Thread - - Part 18

[regwec]

Perhaps he should just shoot a clumsy, prosthetic-heavy, dwarf/elf ******** to finally convince us that this has all been a terrible dream

 

[Tacit Ronin]

A lot of people defended the inane choices made for these films because they claimed it was from a children's book and thus is fundamentally different from LOTR. I wonder what they will say now.

"Um, The Hobbit has an R rated cut whereas LOTR never did is because the Hobbit is adopted from a children's book, silly".

 

[sueb1863]

Is Beorn being tortured, or is he the one doing the torturing?

I seem to vaguely recall hearing a long time ago about a scene that was filmed of Beorn torturing an orc, but I may be wrong...

 

[Marvolo]

Jackson himself has said that the black blood of the orcs is the only reason the LOTR films weren't rated R. The beheadings and arms and legs getting chopped off was all violence that would get any film an R rating, but they got away with it because of the black blood of the orcs. I guess with this film they originally shot humans and dwarves losing limbs and being impaled which is how it got the R rating.

Jackson can't control what the finicky MPAA slaps on his film and everyone here knows how stupid the MPAA can be from one day to the next. They don't rate based on precident so they will give one film a pg-13 and turn around and give an equally violent film an R rating for as little as a single scene or shot. The U.S. rating system is beyond broken.

Plus this is a film focused around a battle in which humans and dwarves are dying in battle. Who knows what tipped the MPAA over. If the original wide theatrical release had been released with an R rating I would have side eyed it, because it would have been blocking a part of the audience from watching it, but Jackson did the right thing and got the theatrical cut down to a pg-13. But this is an extended edition meant for home viewing and it is only getting a very limited one night theatrical presentation.

And about the Beorn torture scene, it is purely rumor. Something I read on a forum. It may not even be something that was ever shot.

Is Beorn being tortured, or is he the one doing the torturing?

I seem to vaguely recall hearing a long time ago about a scene that was filmed of Beorn torturing an orc, but I may be wrong...

It might be a flashback to Beorn's torture at the hands of Agog. I don't remember reading anything about him torturing an orc.

 

[regwec]

My dear fellow, after all this time, PJ cannot be paying you enough for the job you're doing.

 

[Marvolo]

What job? Looking at things rationally and in context instead of just heaping on. Fact is the LOTR barely got by with a PG-13 rating so acting like this having an R rating is some big thing is making a mountain out of a molehill.

What do you even care? You don't like the film and even if you did it's not like the rating would stop you watching the film. You are over 17 I'm sure. And there is a tamer PG-13 cut available for anyone who doesn't want to watch the R cut.

 

[regwec]

The movies as released in theatres fell far short of our worst collective expectations, and they get worse and worse with repeated viewings. Derision is not premature when levelled at terrible decisions made in the production or revision of these movies: the pattern suggests that the reality will be still worse.

 

[Man in the Suit]

But really tho... If the violence isn't fantastical enough (like most superhero movies with mass death and destruction), the MPAA will slap you with an R. The shot might linger on a dead body too long, but they'll take you down to a PG-13 if the director takes a few seconds off. They're weird.

 

[Marvolo]

The movies as released in theatres fell far short of our worst collective expectations, and they get worse and worse with repeated viewings. Derision is not premature when levelled at terrible decisions made in the production or revision of these movies: the pattern suggests that the reality will be still worse.

Your derision this time was about the R rating. Acting as if this will be the first time one of these films has had R level violence. Every one of these films has beheadings and limbs being chopped off and spurting blood, but because it was mostly orcs losing body parts and black blood Jackson got away with it.

You know how the MPAA handles films and how stupid they can be. Or maybe you don't. "This Film is Not Yet Rated" is a good documentary to watch if you want to know how the MPAA rates films.

 

[Marvolo]

But really tho... If the violence isn't fantastical enough (like most superhero movies with mass death and destruction), the MPAA will slap you with an R. The shot might linger on a dead body too long, but they'll take you down to a PG-13 if the director takes a few seconds off. They're weird.

Exactly.

 

[regwec]

I don't care that much, because it affects very little in terms of the overarching failure of the direction of these films. The point is that even more tedious chop-chop-chop violence is the last thing this disastrous "adaptation" needed. Along with a further corruption of Beorn, and even more ****ing Alfred. Oh wait...

 

[Victarion]

Though it wasn't described in the novel, I imagine the actual Battle of Five Armies was quite bloody with plenty of dismemberment. Dwarves hate goblins, goblins hate dwarves, give both sides sharp weapons and it isn't hard to imagine the outcome's going to be messy.

 

[regwec]

And Bilbo, our representative in the story, was unconscious for all of it.

 

[Boom]

A rated-R Hobbit film? Awesome! Just what I've always wanted!



Maybe Jason Voorhees will show up and cut Alfrid's head off.

 

[green]

The extended versions are to me just a bonus to the extras.
No one has ever done such comprehensive making of movies like Jackson has with these and I'm extremely thankful for them.

I can see this version getting an r rating…no biggie. Looking forward to it.

 

[Drizzle]

The Extended Edition of the Battle of the Five Armies has received an R rating for violence!

http://www.filmratings.com/search.html?filmTitle=hobbit&x=0&y=0

The reason it had to be submitted to the MPAA is because it is getting a theatrical release in October along with the extended editions of the first 2 hobbit films.

Now for some rumors:

Jackson supposedly said that they had to cut a lot of violence ("brutal orc killings") to avoid an R rating for the theatrical cut. Also there may have been a Beorn torture scene flashback and an Alfred death scene filmed which may have been put back into the extended cut.

Most times, I'd be excited for an R-rated extended cut of anything. This isn't one of those times. I guess I can overlook it if this version improves on the theatrical cut, but just how excessive did Jackson get with the CGI gore? I realize he got his start doing films like that, but those weren't based on a children's book.

 

[regwec]

To be honest, I imagine it is a bit of cynical marketing aimed at getting teens to revisit a tedious movie.

 

[AnneFan]

I've erased these films from my memory and still haven't seen The Battle of The Five Armies.

 

[regwec]

The Battle of Five Armies would be better on DVD where you could skip the Battle. And all of Alfred's scenes.

Because then there would be no movie left.

 

[C. Lee]

The extended versions are to me just a bonus to the extras.
No one has ever done such comprehensive making of movies like Jackson has with these and I'm extremely thankful for them.

I can see this version getting an r rating…no biggie. Looking forward to it.

It's fantastic the amount of material he puts into the special editions. They keep me busy for a long time watching it all when they come out. Some directors have done something sorta like it once for a special movie they made, but what Jackson has done just boggles the mind.

 

[Marvolo]

Most times, I'd be excited for an R-rated extended cut of anything. This isn't one of those times. I guess I can overlook it if this version improves on the theatrical cut, but just how excessive did Jackson get with the CGI gore? I realize he got his start doing films like that, but those weren't based on a children's book.

Well knowing the MPAA it could have been a single lingering shot that tipped it into R territory. I doubt its a single shot, but I doubt the movie is any gorier than what we saw in the fight between Lurtz and Aragorn which was pretty damn gory in its full extended cut. There is probably just more orc on human violence in this cut. The theatrical cut was really tame in that area. Not much was shown of the battle in the streets of Dale.

One way we might be able to gauge the increase in violence is to look at what Australia rates the extended cut. They gave the 5 extended editions that are out and the 6 theatrical cuts an M rating. If they give the extended edition of Battle of the Five Armies the same M rating then then its probably a safe bet that the MPAA was just being overly picky with this extended cut of BOTFA. Here is the Australian ratings system for reference:

And something else someone mentioned, WB may use this to draw more attention to this release. Similar to how studios use the "Unrated" thing as a selling point when they release a film. Or they may appeal it. We are 2 months from the theatrical debut so they may have time to appeal the rating. But if its between cutting something and keeping the R Id rather they keep the R rating.

 

[DCW]

I thought the R rating was a joke at first...

 

[Marvolo]

Canadian DVD Cover

Canadian 2D Blu-ray Cover

TheDigitalBits has confirmed with inside sources that the Extended Cut adds 36 minutes.

First, while Warner Home Video hasn’t yet announced the Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D release of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – Extended Edition yet (tentatively due on either 11/3, 11/10 or 11/17), we do know a few things about the release. First, it’s going to be about 36 minutes longer than the theatrical cut (in the neighborhood of 180 minutes long) – the most substantial of all The Hobbit: Extended Editions. That comes from Jackson himself, and I’ve managed to confirm it with sources directly involved, who tell me that the footage is “significant” and most of it has been added to the battle at the end. Second, it’s going to be screened in theaters in October, as part of a worldwide, week-long The Hobbit: Extended Edition screening event in theaters (you can see the AMC listing here, which includes the 3 hour run time, and The One Ring.net has more here). The Extended Edition of An Unexpected Journey will screen on 10/5, followed by the EE of The Desolation of Smaug on 10/7, and finally the EE or The Battle of the Five Armies on 10/13. Third, we now know that The Battle of the Five Armies – Extended Edition has received an R-rating from the MPAA (more here at Rope of Silicon). We expect an official Blu-ray release announcement from Warner any time now. Of course, we’ll post the details as soon as we have them.

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/columns/my-two-cents/080615_1345

 

[Marvolo]

I thought the R rating was a joke at first...

Nope. The MPAA has released the bulletin. Its rated R for "Some Violence"

BULLETIN NO: 2385
Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies - Extended Edition, The [3hrs]

Rated R for some violence.

NOTE: EDITED VERSION. CONTENT IS DIFFERENT FROM PG-13 RATED
VERSION

 

[Tacit Ronin]

You guys want a laugh? Watch the 2012 director's table discussion where Peter Jackson states, with no self-awareness, that he makes films differently than Hollywood.

Maybe he means that he shows up naked on set? Because everything in this trilogy's production is essential Hollywood excess.